Flip Side: Toronto woman’s tweets about tech sector sexism go viral

How an alleged sexist chat between colleagues became a news item

Earlier this week, what would have been just a chat between colleagues went viral when a Toronto woman livetweeted an “appalling” conversation she overheard during lunch.

Lyndsay Kirkham, an editor and web developer, said she heard workers discussing how they don’t want to hire young women “because they just get pregnant again and again and again.”

Canada.com has not been able to verify where these people are employed, but Kirkham’s tweets blew up online and fed into a larger conversation about how women are treated in the tech industry.

When does a seemingly private conversation turn into public discourse? Why did this story turn into a news item covered by the likes of CBC and the Daily Mail? Lauren and Elissa dive in on this week’s Flip Side.

Elissa Freeman is a writer and PR consultant. Living in Toronto, Canada, she is a regular contributor to PR Daily & canada.com. Named: Twitter's Top 52 PR pros, Top 75 Badass Females, Top 150 Toronto... read more Influencers.View author's profile